- Joined
- Mar 27, 2009
- Messages
- 5,975
Miracles do happen, and yesterday one did. A package arrived on Sunday, and it was the Spyderco Superleaf. I now know that Sunday is the best day to receive a shipment because you've already resigned to it taking at least until Monday, and probably Tuesday before your knife arrives. I was wrong to be so pessimistic! 
An even better reason for being glad was the knife itself. The Superleaf is a Spyderco. I could end the review here, lol, but I won't. The Superleaf is of a type that Spyderco IMHO needs to make more of. It is sturdy, to use a Belgian reviewer's favourite word. The frame is broad and solid. The blade is 4mm thick and - although distal tapered - keeps it girth until right before the tip. The blade is also fairly wide, thereby ensuring it's still a good slicer. VG-10, made in Japan. It came sharper than all the ones before - which is insane.
The knife is also blessed with the compression lock. I am a fan of the Tri-Ad lock and the Axis lock, and the compression lock is the third and last in a short row of lock types that are stronger than anyone will never need a folder to be. Once you see the mechanism in action, you're converted, you know for a fact this will never fail on you.
The Superleaf is surprisingly tricky to flick open. There is a lot of retention (which I like) and the blade has some weight to it, so the first few times you flick it open the blade does not reach locking position. It grows on you quickly though.
The wireclip is great. There was a thread on it recently, well, count me in the camp that likes them. They secure the knife firmly, they are unobtrusive and most importantly to me, they catch easy on the pants when I insert the knife. Some clips take some fiddling to insert, not so this wireclip. It can be switched to left-hand carry, but either side accommodates only tip-up carry.
The G10 scales are medium to high traction, excellent. Although the texture is a bit finer than that of the black Military, it offers slightly more traction still. Combined with the excellent shape of the handle, the Superleaf sits in the hand like it evolved to live there. Top marks for ergonomic design.
The Superleaf has two strong pillars, a massive stop pin and the pivot to hold the scales together, and they make the knife feel like a block of concrete. There's a good sized lanyard hole as well. The frame is otherwise completely open, which makes for easy cleaning.
The jimping on top of the knife is not agressive enough to my taste, in the choil it's just fine. Speaking of which: the Superleaf sacrifices almost a half inch to the choil. As a consequence it has a much shorter cutting edge than the Tenacious, while they have exactly the same blade length. Maybe it's just me but I never use it, I can do detailed stuff from the handle no problem. I'm sure lots of people like the choil because most Spyderco's have them, but I'm not one of them. The knife grips just fine around the pivot area, and I just prefer a longer edge.
Overall, the Superleaf is a winner, another great folder from Spyderco. What I like in particular is the solid blade. I'd buy a 5mm version in a heartbeat (I can dream can't I?) Seriously, I'd LOVE an even thicker Superleaf.
Thanks AGAIN, Sal and company, for another excellent folder. :thumbup:
An even better reason for being glad was the knife itself. The Superleaf is a Spyderco. I could end the review here, lol, but I won't. The Superleaf is of a type that Spyderco IMHO needs to make more of. It is sturdy, to use a Belgian reviewer's favourite word. The frame is broad and solid. The blade is 4mm thick and - although distal tapered - keeps it girth until right before the tip. The blade is also fairly wide, thereby ensuring it's still a good slicer. VG-10, made in Japan. It came sharper than all the ones before - which is insane.
The knife is also blessed with the compression lock. I am a fan of the Tri-Ad lock and the Axis lock, and the compression lock is the third and last in a short row of lock types that are stronger than anyone will never need a folder to be. Once you see the mechanism in action, you're converted, you know for a fact this will never fail on you.
The Superleaf is surprisingly tricky to flick open. There is a lot of retention (which I like) and the blade has some weight to it, so the first few times you flick it open the blade does not reach locking position. It grows on you quickly though.
The wireclip is great. There was a thread on it recently, well, count me in the camp that likes them. They secure the knife firmly, they are unobtrusive and most importantly to me, they catch easy on the pants when I insert the knife. Some clips take some fiddling to insert, not so this wireclip. It can be switched to left-hand carry, but either side accommodates only tip-up carry.
The G10 scales are medium to high traction, excellent. Although the texture is a bit finer than that of the black Military, it offers slightly more traction still. Combined with the excellent shape of the handle, the Superleaf sits in the hand like it evolved to live there. Top marks for ergonomic design.
The Superleaf has two strong pillars, a massive stop pin and the pivot to hold the scales together, and they make the knife feel like a block of concrete. There's a good sized lanyard hole as well. The frame is otherwise completely open, which makes for easy cleaning.
The jimping on top of the knife is not agressive enough to my taste, in the choil it's just fine. Speaking of which: the Superleaf sacrifices almost a half inch to the choil. As a consequence it has a much shorter cutting edge than the Tenacious, while they have exactly the same blade length. Maybe it's just me but I never use it, I can do detailed stuff from the handle no problem. I'm sure lots of people like the choil because most Spyderco's have them, but I'm not one of them. The knife grips just fine around the pivot area, and I just prefer a longer edge.
Overall, the Superleaf is a winner, another great folder from Spyderco. What I like in particular is the solid blade. I'd buy a 5mm version in a heartbeat (I can dream can't I?
) Seriously, I'd LOVE an even thicker Superleaf.Thanks AGAIN, Sal and company, for another excellent folder. :thumbup:
. I hope Sal is still reading this and begins work on a slightly larger version with no choil, I would buy one ASAP.